Friday, 6 April 2012

GHOST OF KNIGHT TEMPLAR CAUGHT ON PHOTOGRAPH

Here is a very interesting photograph which on first sight looks quite innocuous and was taken over at some former sand pits now used as a local fishing lake and beauty spot near the former headquarters of the Knights Templar at Cressing Temple, Essex.
The lake occupies a space which was once a major traffic route to the site before the order was suppressed.
Cressing Temple - The Templar barns are all that remain today

 The photographer John Palmer is a fisherman unconnected with a paranormal interest.
However, the picture was passed to Andy Radley of Essex Ghost Hunting Team and is reproduced with their permission.
The site on the night was clear and dry, with no mist developing on the water. The image is residual, and a very rare catch.

Photograph 1 shows the image in an uncleaned condition and there looks to be mist floating from the lake.

Photograph 2 now shows the image brightened up and magnified. You can clearly see a horses head leading a figure riding on horseback with a shield at his side.

Could this image be a Templar riding back to the Temple?


Looking closely you can see to the right more activity which might in fact be a second horse and rider.
I find this image truly fascinating, and especially within an historical context.


The lake area during daytime

 AREA HISTORY

A Templar Knight at the Temple Church London
Cressing Temple is an ancient monument situated between Witham and Braintree in Essex and was founded in 1137 by Matilda of Boulogne, the wife of King Stephen. It was the headquarters of the first grant of land given to the religious order of the Knights Templar in England. The two barns and the templar well which exist on the site, originate from this period. The Wheat Barn and the Barley Barn are the two finest Templar-built barns in Europe while the Barley Barn is recognised as the oldest timber-framed barn in the world.

In 1310 Cressing Temple was handed over to the Knights Hospitallers who built new stone buildings and expanded the site. Following the Reformation, in the late 16th Century there was a mansion on the site, now called the 'Great House', but it was demolished in the 18th Century and only the farmhouse, granary, wagon lodge and stableyards remain. The Tudor brick garden also stands and has been developed by Essex County Council who acquired the barns for the people of Essex in 1987. Extensive archaeological investigations were carried out as part of a programme of improvements and updates in the 1990s.

FURTHER VIEWING

A short visit of a daytime investigation at Cressing Temple a few years ago.



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